1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for lamination by sandwiching an object between upper and lower heat-reactive laminating films and applying heat and pressure thereto.
2. Related Background Art
Lamination is used for various objects for improving the appearance or preservability thereof. FIG. 10 shows a conventional laminating apparatus used for such lamination.
FIG. 10 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional laminating apparatus, wherein shown are an upper heat-reactive laminating film 100 and a lower heat-reactive laminating film 100'. These films are respectively rolled as an upper sheet roll 101 and a lower sheet roll 101'. Said laminating films 100, 100' respectively wrap around a heating roller 102 and a pressure roller 102' and are pulled at the front ends by pull rollers 103, 103' for giving a predetermined tension to said films. At the centers of said heating roller 102 and pressure roller 102' there are respectively provided heaters 104, 104' for heating said rollers.
At the downstream side (left side in FIG. 10) of said pull rollers 103, 103', there is provided a cutter 105 for cutting the front and rear ends of the object after lamination.
A feed table 106 is provided for supporting an object 107 to be laminated, which is inserted, along the feed table 106, into the nip of the heating roller 102 and the pressure roller 102', where the upper laminating film 100 and the lower laminating film 100' mutually meet.
On said laminating apparatus there is provided an operation unit, including switches 108, 109 for manually setting the transporting speed of the heating roller 102, pressure roller 102' and pull rollers 103, 103', and the peripheral temperature of the heating roller 102 and pressure roller 102'.
However such conventional laminating apparatus has been associated with a drawback that lamination of satisfactory appearance cannot be obtained with a transfer sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus, because the transfer sheet immediately after discharge contains moisture (e.g. from the ink) and generates bubbles due to said moisture sealed between the laminating films.
On the other hand, if the transfer sheet is sufficiently dried, the laminating operation cannot be efficient because the process on the laminating apparatus cannot be conducted immediately.